


nowhere to return

by notveryhandy



Series: Welcome to the Deathverse [3]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:21:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notveryhandy/pseuds/notveryhandy
Summary: “Nobody ever said I was your third regeneration,” says Trey, and then she stalks out.“Your trial is in one day, Lady President. Or rather,formerLady President. Have a nice day!” she says in a twisted, sing-song voice.
Series: Welcome to the Deathverse [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1802461
Kudos: 4





	nowhere to return

**Author's Note:**

> The Valeyard, they would have called her, if she had left them alive long enough to name her.

“You know what they call me?” asks Trey, or what should be Trey. “They call me the Valeyard. Or at least, they _would,_ if anybody who met me lived long enough to name me.”

Romana winces, shifts against her handcuffs. “What did you do with Trey?”

“Nothing,” laughs Trey, voice colder than cold. “I am Trey.”

“But I thought you said... oh.”

“Indeed, Lady President.” She spits out the words like they’re poison. “I am not the Doctor’s Valeyard, of course. It’s merely a term, long ago forgotten. From Old High Gallifreyan. Valeyard. Bringer of Storms.”

“I see,” Romana says. “So you’re evil.”

“Hardly evil, dear. Just a little less forgiving and far, far older.”

“How many regenerations?” she asks, hollowly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to mention. Valeyard also means... last.”

She swallows.

“Your trial, by the way, is in one day. Enjoy your _execution._ ”

* * *

The guards remain impassive as she is dragged through the corridors, knees scraping against the ugly stone floor, leaving blood in her wake. She stopped crying long ago, and learnt to stay silent soon after. It’s not worth the beatings.

Only hours left to live.

Trey stands ready to argue against her. She would aim for defiance but humiliation from her captors and the lethargy of staying up all night, screaming, leaves her helpless.

Where is the defendant?

Nowhere to be seen. Of course, no fair trial. “How honourable of you,” she whispers, barely able to form words. 

Trey is not amused. “Shut up, idiot. What did you expect?”

Not this, surely.

* * *

“It would save me much trouble if i simply killed you, for good.”

Romana says nothing. “Given up, have you?” she sneers, tilting Romana’s chin up forcefully. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

She sits back on the high-backed throne of the Council. 

“Where,” Romana chokes, “are we?”

“Nowhere you’d want to stay. My Tardis.”

“You mean _my_ Tardis?”

“Are you so naïve, Madame President, as to still believe I care about such niceties as _whose Tardis exactly it is?_ I thought we were past the days of Academy-level incompetence.”

Romana tries for a snarl.

“Oh, don’t do that. It’s hardly flattering, ruins your pretty face.”

The silence stretches on.

“Nothing to say? _Rassilon,_ what a bore. Guards, throw her out.”

* * *

She hits the floor of the prison cell, and it’s jarring. “Come back!” she cries, even as the door locks for good. “I’m meant to be in charge here, you know!”

Evidently not. Romana pulls herself off the floor and attempts to bandage her bleeding knees with her tattered robes, but the fabric is far too thin. Quickly giving up on that plan, she curls up to conserve body heat.

The floor is far too hard.

The room is far too quiet.

When she does fade away, she’s met with nightmares.

* * *

“Are you going to kill me?” Romana asks at last. “Somehow I doubt you care about the paradoxes.”

“Oh, no, I’ve had a change of heart! I think I’ll just kill all your friends instead.”

“I’m sorry, _what?_ ”

“They’ve really missed you,” she says coyly. “Besides, it’s not like Rassilon cares. Frankly, he’ll be please. Might even reward me! How fun is _that?_ ”

Romana glares at her.

“Oh, right, every single person you love is going to be brutally murdered. Yes, I can see how that might be a touchy subject. To say the least.” She wipes blood off Romana’s face roughly, leaving scrape marks in their place. The touch is chilling.

“Goodbye. I’m going to toy with your friends for a bit.”

“What about me?” Romana gasps, still recoiling in pain.

“Oh, I think I’ll just leave you to rot. Goodbye!” she calls, cheery as anything. “Your friends have got a President to grieve.”

Romana, too exhausted to even sob, crumples against the stolen Council chair.

* * *

“Yes, it’s very unfair, isn’t it blondie?” Trey’s blood soaked fingers clench her wrists, pinning them to the table. “Well I don’t care.”

“I got that,” she says through gritted teeth.

“Took you long enough,” the Valeyard-Romana hisses. “Would you like to know whose blood is on my hands this time? Yesterday, it was Julius Caesar. Stars _above_ , he was a bore. Wouldn’t even shut up as I stabbed him!”

“You’re a monster, you know that?”

“I suppose so,” says Trey, lounging back, her grip on Romana loosening. “It’s all very subjective.”

“Did you or did you not kill my friends?” She tries not to cry at that sentence.

“Ooh, a reaction! All the more reason to never, ever tell you. Keep it with you until the _day_ you _die_.”

“You’re disgusting!”

“If you say so.”

Romans buries her head in her hands, desperately trying to ignore Trey’s loud insults.

“You’ll never win,” laughs Trey. “Like it or not - and you _will_ eventually - I _am_ you. Don’t deny it.”

“I never would, because I am not dishonest. Unlike you.”

“Honesty doesn’t matter if I murdered everyone you know. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to dump you on some backwater planet with no memory of who you are. Or maybe throw you in the Time Vortex, I haven’t decided yet. Goodbye!”

Trey leaves for the last time, and Romana runs a hand through her tangled hair.

There’s no going back now.


End file.
